Open Primaries

Monday, March 04, 2013

Independent Voters, Open Primaries, and Poverty

Nancy Folbre in her New York Times piece this week posits that "labor itself is produced outside the
market..." and she points to the family as the engine of production. So too in politics, culture, science and all things human (even the family!), innovation comes from outside the existing institutions and their created markets - by definition. Big fight going on nationally around party primaries. Innovation will come from outside the partisan system, even as the out-of-power party fights the in-power party for control. Read on:

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

Why Republicans Are Out Of Step With Young Voters (by Don Gonyea, NPR) Austin Jones, a senior and an independent
voter, says it's not just the Republican stand on social issues that
troubles him. "Evolution is a fact. Climate change is happening. There's
no arguing that. If you're arguing that, you're a fool," Jones says.
Campus Democrats, meanwhile, see such comments from an independent as an
opportunity.

OPEN PRIMARIES

A New Primary System? Two For Thought (By John
Fuller/Joe Carbonari, Flathead Beacon - MT) Joe Carbonari: There is a
move afoot, here in Montana and across the country as a whole, to
disenfranchise and/or discourage those voters that the Republican Party
cannot attract or hold. Better my Republican friends should spend their
time re-examining their positions and their message. We need more
voters, and more candidates, who understand the complexities of the
issues that face us. Limiting the choices that voters have and working
to restrict the opposition’s turnout is not good for the health of our
democracy.

Pauls leery of using closed primary, Rep states adoption of method by Dems is bid to prevent conservative wins. (By Mary Clarkin - The
Hutchinson News KS) About 58 percent of those voting on the motion
during Washington Days supported it. The Kansas Republican Party has a
closed primary, and the Democrats' primary also will be closed in August
2014. The old open primary system permitted unaffiliated voters to
obtain a Democratic ballot without becoming Democrats. Under a closed
primary, voters at the polls wanting a Republican or Democratic ballot
will have to be affiliated with either party before obtaining a ballot.

POVERTY & THE MINIMUM WAGE

The Business of the Minimum Wage
(By CHRISTINA D. ROMER, NY Times) Instead, most arguments for
instituting or raising a minimum wage are based on fairness and
redistribution. Even if workers are getting a competitive wage, many of
us are deeply disturbed that some hard-working families still have very
little. Though a desire to help the poor is largely a moral issue,
economics can help us think about how successful a higher minimum wage
would be at reducing poverty. Minimal Wages, Minimal Families (By NANCY FOLBRE - Nancy Folbre,
economist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst -NY Times/Economix
"Explaining the Science of Everyday Life") So, the debate circles back
to the dilemma acknowledged by classical political economy in the 19th
century. The forces of supply and demand, left to themselves, treat
labor like any other commodity. But labor itself is produced outside the
market, by families and communities who must struggle to find ways to
support their contributions to the future.

Economists disagree on whether the minimum wage kills jobs. Why? (Posted by Brad Plumer, Washington Post/Wonkblog) There are lots of possible ways that companies can adjust to modest wage
hikes besides hiring fewer people. (Obviously if the minimum wage shot
up to $100 per hour, that’d be much more disruptive, but no one is
proposing that.) The basic economic theory is alluring. But the world
isn’t always that simple.[IL Gov] Quinn calls for $10 minimum wage, gun control in State of the State (Daily Register - IL) In a nearly 40-minute speech, Quinn also
called for an end to voters having to declare a party affiliation to
participate in primary elections and reiterated that rising pension
costs are diverting money from other state programs.